1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of computer networks comprising a plurality of computers and more particularly to computer networks that communicate information using a token-based protocol while connected on a ring or bus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks allow for the connected devices to communicate with each other. There are three basic types of networks that are defined based on the proximity of the computer to a peripheral device. The smallest is a PAN (Personal Area Network) An example of a PAN is a home computer using the USB (Universal Serial Bus) method for connecting a computer, printer, scanner, and more. This PAN is used to communicate with each other as long as they are in close proximity.
Communication is based on a serial bus and has several limitations one of which being the inability to do simultaneous communications. Accordingly there exist a need for communications, which allow improved simultaneous networks.
In a typical business environment many offices are connected together so that the computers, printers, and associated equipment can communicate together. This configuration is known as a LAN (Local Area Network). There are two widely deployed types of LANs. One type of LAN is Ethernet Net (IEEE 802.3) and the other type of LAN is Token Ring (IEEE 802.5) networks. The Ethernet network is more widely deployed, because it is typically less expensive to deploy. However, if several communication devices contend for communication at the same time, bottlenecks occur during which all devices except one device must “Backoff” or hold-off communicating until the one device completes the communication. Then another device starts communicating until all devices are complete. This is a problem with “simultaneous” communications. In an Ethernet network topology, the aggregated bandwidth of the network cannot approach the incremental bandwidth due to the lack of controlled loading.
In contrast, to an Ethernet network topology, a Token Ring does allow for controlled loading. As the name implies, a Token Ring network is based on token passing, for higher shared bandwidth, and avoids collisions based on the control of the tokens.
These LAN standards of Ethernet network and Token Ring network although both useful are not without their shortcoming. One shortcoming is that both Ethernet and Token Ring networks do not allow for simultaneous communications. Accordingly there exists a need to provide simultaneous communications and to improve communication bandwidth.
As stated above, the cost of network deployment is often a major factor in adoption of a network topology. Other solutions in the prior art for simultaneous communications that require significant additional costs are not desirable because of the high cost of adoption. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus to provided simultaneous communications at a reasonable cost.
A WAN (Wide Area Network), as the name implies, widely separates computers and computer equipment. There are several methods of connecting these computers. The Internet is by far the most popular. Network contention with other computers while using a WAN is controlled by having simultaneous connections of varying connections speed and feed rates. Stated differently a computer typically communicates using a WAN simultaneously with other computers, however the communications can take a long time due to the extended distance between communicating units. Accordingly there exist a need for a method and apparatus that permits simultaneous communications while being part of a LAN.